“Who wants to start? Make it quick,” said a disappointed Tom Brady on Sunday (Nov 14), after he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered a 19-29 loss to the Washington Football Team. Brady, 44, and the Bucs were the favorites heading into the game, but Tom’s day ended with just 220 yards thrown, with two touchdowns – and two interceptions. Tom’s mood was evident when he fielded questions during the postgame press conference. “We never really played on our terms. We played from behind the whole game. They played a good game – they had a good plan,” he said.
Tom Brady's postgame press conference only lasted a minute.
At the end, a reporter could be heard asking, "That's it?" pic.twitter.com/2L9NUwuQIO
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) November 14, 2021
“I mean, we have obviously — it’s just not a great day of football for us,” said Tom in response to a second question. “It doesn’t matter who you play if you have a bunch of self-inflicted errors. We’ve gotta eliminate those and see if we can go out and execute the plays that are there.” After a question about his interceptions – “We started with the ball,” said Brady, “and they came away with it” – Tom ended the press conference. At least, he tried, according to Audacy’s WEEI. Tom returned for a few more questions, but all in all, the press conference lasted just under two minutes.
As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Bucs didn’t expect Sunday’s game to go that way, especially since they were playing a team that was 2-6. It was the team’s second straight loss. “It’s very disappointing,” head coach Bruce Arians said, per ESPN. “It’s very alarming to watch the energy at every practice and show up with a lack of execution and energy that it takes to win on Sunday. We’ve got a lot of soul-searching to do.”
“Energy and passion are very fixable,” Arians said, noting that penalities have been the team’s Achilles’ heel this season. “The penalties — they’ve gotta get corrected sooner or later. The first play of the game — they’re shifting, and we jump offsides. They don’t even run a play, and we jump offsides. The stupidity has to go away if we’re gonna go anywhere.”
“It has nothing to do with ability,” Coach Arians said. “It’s about execution and being a smart football team. We’re a very dumb football team. And that’s a reflection on the coaches.” The good news is that the 6-3 Bucs are still leading the NFC South (behind the 5-4 Saints and 5-5 Carolina Panthers.) Tampa Bay takes on the 3-6 New York Giants next week on Nov. 22.